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Law Girl, Attorney

Category: Bankruptcy Law

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KAT Law Girl - Colorado - As far as previous answer, as far ...

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KAT Law Girl - Colorado - As far as previous answer, as far as attaching to primary residence with homestead act, if I do not sell the property does it just remain as an attachment? As far as garnishing up to 75% of disposable income, how is that determined? I have been in a negative cashflow situation since I was laid off in November 2006, so I do not have any disposable income. What will happen as far as additional judgements if this one already has attachments and garnishment? What would be my next step to have someone review my entire situation to evaluate if they think that bankruptcy should be taken?

As long as your occupy your residence as your primary residence, it will qualify for the $30,000 California homestead exemption. [38-41-201; 38-41-201.6]

To protection your home, you may want to file a Homestead Declaration which is a legal document which can help to protect your house and property. You should be able to obtain a copy of the form from the County Assessor's office.

In order to have your wages garnished, your creditor would send paperwork to your employer to find out how much you make. In the event that you are unemployed, due to your lay off, you may not have wages to be garnished.

Your creditor is only able to obtain one judgment against your for this claim. Therefore unless they are suing you for another reason, it is unlikely that your creditor will be able to obtain additional judgments against you.

Apart from owning a home, it sounds like you may be fairly judgment proof. You may want to consult with a local bankruptcy attorney who can evaluate your financials with you to see whether bankruptcy is a feasible option for you.

Please let me know if you have any other questions, or require clarification of this matter. Otherwise please hit "ACCEPT", so I may receive credit for my response. Tips and feedback are also appreciated.

Reply to Law Girl's Post: Thank you for the reply. Just to clarify a couple of things, I live in Colorado not in California. As far as additional judgement what I mean is judgements from other creditors, if there is a garnishment in place does that mean that others cannot garnish? Please understand I really do want to pay all these people. I have about 50,000 equity in my rental but it is not possible to sell it in the current market. So I am trying to evaluate my total exposure if I do nothing, then sell when the market turns around. I have about 88,000 in credit card debt. I have already paid this debt setlement company over 7,000 and have about 3,500 left to go. They estimated to be able to save me about 52,000 by the end, however so far they saved me 1700 on one and I am looking at having to spend an extra 6100 on the two that will be judgements against me. When I started with them I was still current on everything and they said that I had to let them all go delinquent before they could negotiate them. The money I paid them is unfortunately non-refundable but I am wondering if I should terminate the agreement and negotiate directly with my creditors. The one creditor that I did deal with directly actually lowered an 18,000 debt down to 3222, of which I have three payments left and it will be done. The only reason that I negotiated that is because I accidentally answered the phone when they called one day. I am now wondering how many others would be willing to work something out rather than ignoring them and waiting for judgements? I am asking a lot of questions and I am willing to pay to help me get the information I need in order to make an informed decision of how to proceed from here.

Sorry. The information applies to Colorado not California, had the wrong state on the brain. The homestead exemption in California is larger than $30,000.

Other creditors have the ability to take a judgment against you. Since everyone has to go through the same process to get their money from you, it is really a matter of the first creditor is first in line. The next creditor may put liens on your assets which are secondary to the first creditor. Then each lien or garnishment is satisfied in the order in which it is placed against you.

I cannot argue whether the debt management company agreement should be terminated, it may depend on the penalty you face for terminating the agreement. However, if you feel the debt management company is not working in your best interests than perhaps you can do a better job of negotiating on your behalf. It sounds like you have done a pretty good job already! Although your creditor has no obligation to negotiate with you, you may be surprised how many creditors are willing to work something out with you.

I will tell you that...the things you have to go through to be an Expert are quite rigorous.

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